Island for sale in Spain

Island off Lanzarote on sale for 9 million euros

Montaña Clara, an island 2.7 km2 which is located to the north of Lanzarote and within the boundaries of the Archipelago Chinijo Nature Park is being offered for sale to the highest bidder. The island was first acquired 50 years ago by López Socas, the then mayor of Haría, in Lanzarote.

The present owners went to a national chain of Spanish estate agents, in order to gain more publicity and extend the number of possible buyers. However building is not allowed on the island as it has special protection and is part of a nature reserve as well as being a bird sanctuary.

The promotors hope that a possible buyer could be interested in investing in the island as a patron attracted by the natural heritage and also certain tax benefits. It has been reported that two possible buyers have emerged - a financial institution and a Dutch family - but the sellers are hoping the Spanish state will intervene and purchase the island. The promoters estimate that the sale could take up to a year. The price has been calculated per square metre based on prices for similar land on Lanzarote which works out at just over 3 euros per metre. This morning the Spanish Environment Ministry claimed that because of the famous Ley de Costas (Coastal Law),which declared the Spanish coast public property, the perimeter of the island already belongs to the state and cannot be sold into private hands.

Montaña Clara island gained its name due to the light colour of the peak of the volcano rock there which covers a large part of the island. The highest point on the island is La Mariana at 256 metres high.

Montaña Clara also forms part of one of Spain’s largest marine reserves, the second largest in Europe, as well as being a refuge for a large number of birds. Any possible buyer of the island will have the responsibility of protecting the environment and maintaining this unique natural area.

Montaña Clara isn’t the only private island in the area. Alegranza, which is owned by the Jordán family is currently in the process of be transferred to state ownership.

Related: Buying land in Spain

Young Spaniards reluctant to rent property

The Government’s new housing policy which aims at getting more young Spaniards to rent has come up against an unexpected pitfall – that those it is aiming to help reject the idea of renting.

The results of a government survey of young people between 20 and 30 years old showed that renting is not at all popular in Spain. More than half of those questioned expressed their desire to buy their own property despite government help towards renting. In fact around 60% said that the price of renting and monthly mortgage payments were quite similar and therefore opted in favour of buying property whenever possible.

These findings underline the fact that Spain tends to be a country of house buyers rather than renters. The European average for tenants living in rented accommodation is 38% but in Spain this figure drops to just 11%. The Ministry for Housing has acknowledged that in order to reverse this trend, renting needs to be not only cheaper but they also need to convince the young that it is an attractive option.

The results of the survey published yesterday indicated that the 1000 young people questioned would not be interested in renting, even if conditions were to become more favourable. Among some of the reasons they cited against renting were the bad state of rental accommodation, lack of guarantees for continuing a lease and the high deposit or bank guarantee required in order to be able to sign a rental contract.

When those questioned what price they would be happy to pay for renting a flat they said 350 euros with a maximum of 475 euros. However, in reality most rental contracts for flats of 100 square metres cost around 720 euros a month, rising to an average of in places like Madrid or Barcelona.

As far as economic help is concerned most people said that there should be more help towards buying rather than renting. A government spokesperson has said that more information is to become available about economic incentives available to help towards the cost of renting.

See: Renting property in Spain

Shortage of scientists in Spain

60,000 New Scientists Needed in Spain over the next 4 years

Carlos Martínez, the president of the Spanish High Council for Scientific Research (Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas -CSIC) said yesterday that Spain needs around 50,000 to 60,000 new scientists over the next 4 years and that this requirement would almost certainly have to be filled by scientists recruited from outside the country.

He also said that the CSIC was in negotiations with the government a project called Genius Programme 2010. The main aim of this project is to secure the state's commitment to spend 2% of Spain's GDP on research programmes.

Martínez sees two major challenges ahead: the internationalization of Spanish researchers and the need for a university degree course in research which was included in the Spanish Socialist Party’s manifesto prior to the last elections. He said that the degree in research already existed in draft form and that he hoped that this would also be implemented when a new law on agencies comes into effect.

When speaking about the need for more scientists and researchers in Spain he said that Spain needed to participate more in international organizations and that it would be beneficial if Spanish scientists occupied important posts in the international arena. According to Martínez’s calculations there are just 5.5 scientists for every 1000 Spanish inhabitants which is 35% less than the European average. The leader of CSIC told media sources that the majority of the country’s scientists worked in Spanish universities and that there was a clear need for greater financial support for other research organisations. He also claimed that the current shortage in Spanish scientists meant that institutions often had to recruit from abroad.

Cervical Cancer Vaccine will be available in Spain by the end of 2007

Last week, the Spanish Health Minister, Bernat Soria, presented an informative document to the Spanish parliament which gave details on the process for the authorisation of the Gardasil® vaccine by Sanofi Pasteur MSD.

The vaccine protects against a virus that has been found to be present in 70% of women diagnosed with cervical cancer and could help to save the lives of thousands of women each year. Cervical cancer is the second most common cancer suffered by women.

In an interview with Cadena SER Spain's Health Minister said that the vaccine had no side effects and should be given to girls between the ages of 11 and 15 years old as long as they haven’t experienced any sexual contact.

Bernard Soria said that the vaccine could be in Spanish chemists by November or December this year. This is almost the same time that the vaccine will be made available in other European countries such as France, Germany or the United Kingdom.

ETA car bomb explodes near Bilbao

Two Civil Guards were slightly injured with cuts caused by flying glass in the early hours of this morning as a consequence of the ETA bomb which exploded next to their barracks in the locality of Durango in Vizcaya. The explosion took place at around 3.30 am. The two men suffered slight injuries and were later discharged.

According to the latest reports a Citroen van was parked behind the Spanish Civil Guard barracks next to 4 Nissan armoured patrol vehicles which received the full force of the blast. It is believed that the van contained between 80 and 100 kilos of explosives and was planted by Basque terrorists.

Investigators think that the van used in the bomb explosion was stolen yesterday or the day before from somewhere within the Basque Country. The explosion not only caused damages to the 4 patrol vehicles and the barracks but also to several flats located near the place where the blast took place.

The terrorists fled in a Seat Ibiza with a false Portuguese registration number. It was later found burnt out in Amorebieta, a locality in Vizcaya just eleven kilometres from Durango. According to police it was set alight at around 4.30 am, an hour after the explosion happened. Investigators are now look at the possibility that ETA may have a cell based in Portugal.

The Town Council in Durango called an emergency meeting this morning in which all councillors except for those belonging to ANV (Nationalist Basque Action), supported a strong condemnation of the bomb attack. Earlier yesterday the Spanish Interior Minister, Alfredo Rubalcaba, told the Spanish media that police had thwarted several ETA attacks in the past few weeks, and that the Government had no doubt that the terrorist group was preparing another attack.

Spanish villagers to vote on rural mobile phone access

Village in Granada to hold a referendum on mobile telephone coverage

The inhabitants of Los Villares, in La Peza in the province of Granada will decide today by referendum whether they want to have mobile telephone coverage in their vicinity which only has around 120 inhabitants. The initiative for the referendum came from La Peza's Mayoress, Celia Santiago (PP).

Los Villares is one of many rural communities in Spain without a mobile phone signal and, according to Celia Santiago, a lot of locals have expressed interest in having the option of using mobile phones. Most of the population of Los Villares are over 60 years old and, according to their Mayoress, they worry about needing to contact someone urgently. Locals who work in the countryside have also expressed interest in being contactable by mobile phone.

However, in order to put Los Villares on the mobile network, an antenna would have to be installed in the village centre next to the social club which is why the Mayoress decided to call a referendum. She claims that there are no definite findings over whether this type of antenna is damaging to health or not, but prefers for the locals to make their own decision about installing one so near.

The referendum is being held today between 10.00 and 20.00 hours in the locality’s Cultural Centre. It will be controlled by the Town Council’s secretary along with 3 other Council officials. The local police from La Peza are in charge of security with back up from police in Darro. The result of the referendum will be known this evening.

Related: Guide to Granada

Mobile TV channels in Spain

Spanish Government to pass legislation which will give permission for 20 mobile television channels

The Spanish government is planning to take advantage of the Bill on New Technology and Society (LISI) in order to regulate ‘mobile television’ and digital satellite radio. It plans to amend the current bill in order to achieve this objective.

One of the channels destined for digital terrestrial television will be available for viewing on mobile telephones, laptops and electronic diaries. In other words viewers won’t need to be connected to an aerial. The government plans for fixed digital terrestrial television (TDT) to exist alongside mobile TDT. It is expected that 20 channels will be broadcast in this way during first introductory phase.

Results of pilot projects on mobile television in Spain carried out by national and private channels, operators dedicated to transmitting television signals (Abertis, Axión, Castilla-La Mancha Telecom) together with mobile telephone companies (Telefónica, Vodafone and Orange) found that users spent between 16 and 25 minutes a day using this service although a fifth used it for between 30 and 60 minutes. Users tended to opt principally for conventional television programmes and music. A large majority asked for specific contents to be included in mobile channels.

Private television companies including Antena 3, Tele 5, Sogecable, La Sexta, Net TV and Veo TV don’t want to lose out on the opportunity to participate in new technological developments concerning digital television and have asked the government for the right to transmit via mobile TDT. In fact they claim that they could act as catalysts for further technological advances regarding digital television.

The government plans to introduce mobile TDT in Spanish cities, including Madrid and Barcelona by 2009. However, before this it plans to impose regulatory controls to separate TV operators and those in charge of managing internet connections.

Viewers will be able to watch mobile television via satellite or TDT. The latter consists of 2 methods; Unicast and Broadcast. Unicast uses mobile telephone frequencies. Only a limited number of people can use this method at the same time to avoid a collapse in the network. The second method called Broadcast uses television frequencies which means that there wouldn’t need to be any limits placed on the number of users.

According to predictions made by the Spanish government the market in mobile television will be worth around 20,000 million euros by 2015 and will be used by approximately 200 million people in Europe.

Related: Television in Spain

E-banking fraud in Spain

Fraud in Internet banking in Spain in 2007 already more than the total for 2006

The forgery of corporate identities to obtain private information and banking details using fraudulent emails, known as phising is the most common internet fraud in Spain.

According to the Spanish Association of Internet Users the number of cases of phishing during the first 6 months of 2007 rose to 1964 which is more than the total for 2006 when it reached 1184. In fact fraudsters successfully passed themselves off as Spanish banks on 675 occasions, businesses or public organizations on 398 occasions and foreign banks on 627 occasions.

Furthermore fraudsters carried out 264 scams in which the internet user was falsely led to believe that an email was from an official source and was persuaded to give out their banking details. Often they are promised payment for transferring money from one account to another. Often, victims of internet fraud are discovered by their own banks and are usually completely unaware that they are collaborating in the laundering of stolen capital.

Víctor Domingo, the president of the Spanish Association of Internet Users, says that the key to internet fraud is spam and that if you give out information on your bank details in reply to a fraudulent email you are in serious trouble. According to this association for every 1000 fraudulent spam emails sent 15 people are deceived into giving out their banking details which results in internet fraudsters stealing between 60,000 to 100,000 euros from their bank accounts.

As Victor Domingo pointed out so far banks have covered the cost of internet fraud and refunded money stolen from their clients. However, he added that internet fraudsters are also interested in building up a database using information obtained illegally.

Iberia earnings grow in 2007

Iberia obtains best half-yearly results for 5 years

Iberia has made a profit of 74.8 million euros in the first 6 months of this year, its best economic performance for 5 years. This also contrasts with the first 6 months of 2006 when it recorded a loss of 9 million euros. The company has put this turn around in its economic performance down to filling more seats - 80.2% of seats were filled - together with a drop of 0.7% in running costs. In addition, operating profits reached 70 million euros which is also better than results for the same period last year.

Income per passenger which makes up 80% of the total increased by 2.1%, at over 2 million euros, while ticket sales reached 155.1 million euros which is 6.2% more than last year. Handling costs dropped by 12.5% to 147.3 million euros and income for maintenance work carried out for other companies increased by 27.4 per cent to 131 million euros.

Running costs dropped 2.3% to 2.59 million euros compared to 2.66 million euros for the same period in 2006. Fuel costs, which make up 20.5% of the company’s total running costs, were 532.6 million euros a drop of 28 million euros with respect to the same period last year.

In the first 6 months of 2007 Iberia carried 13.18 million passengers. Furthermore, during this period Iberia has started operating 5 new routes, all of which are in strategic markets. Iberia now operates new routes to the US with flights to Boston and Washington, Eastern Europe with flights to Bucharest and St Petersburg and North Africa with flights to Algeria.

Fires in Canary Islands

10,000 evacuated in the Canary Islands as 30,000 hectares destroyed by forest fire

Two forest fires have so far destroyed 30,000 hectares in Gran Canary and Tenerife and have resulted in 10,000 people being moved from their homes to safer areas. The president of the Canary Islands, Paulino Rivero, called the situation dramatic and appealed for help from the Spanish government. José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, the Spanish president, has announced that he will visit the affected areas on Wednesday and has cancelled a planned visit to Catalonia where he was due to meet the president of the Generalitat, Josep Montilla.

High temperatures are hampering efforts to quell the fires and the Spanish Minister for the Environment, Cristina Narbona, currently on a visit to the Canary Islands, has announced that more air support and firefighters will be sent to the islands. She described the situation there as ‘alarming’.

So far only 2 people have been hurt trying to put out the fires. Two soldiers from Emergency Military Unit were injured on the way to Gran Canary when the truck they were travelling in, which was carrying water, overturned.

Currently there are 10 helicopters being used in Gran Canary and another 2 are on their way to join in the struggle to get the fire under control. However, Paulino Rivero said that the mountainous terrain on the island together with strong wind was complicating efforts to extinguish the fire. He also spoke about help being given to those who have lost their homes or have suffered agricultural losses.

Meanwhile in Tenerife more than 14,000 hectares have been destroyed by fire and 8,500 people have been evacuated from Icod de los Vinos, La Guancha, Garachico and Los Realejos.

The fires currently burning on the 2 islands are some of the most serious in recent history. Although no causes have been found yet arson is not being ruled out at this stage.

Related: Guide to Gran Canary, Guide to Tenerife